February 20, 2012

Phnom Penh

We started with my favorite thing to do in a new country: walking without purpose. All told, we did 5+ miles with a couple of leisurely stops ($7 mani-pedi and lunch) on the first day.

The independent monument. The riverfront. The traffic is a crazy combination of tuk-tuks, motos, cars, bikes, and more going in each and every direction. So, crossing the street is an act of courage (or stupidity).

For dinner we met up with K and a friend-of-a-friend of her's, A. A is working on the international criminal tribunal persecuting the Khmer Rouge. He's been living in Phnom Penh for 7 months and was a great host, explaining all about the culture and taking us to Romdeng restaurant for a delicious Cambodian meal (the restaurant trains and employs former street kids) followed by the obligatory visit to the rooftop lounge at the Foreign Correspondence Club.

Additional highlights included the Royal Palace, the National Museum, the Genocide Museum, and several great meals of Khmer food (including fried tarantulas).

Overall, Phnom Penh is much less foreign, less difficult to manage, and more expensive than I thought. I very much enjoyed this visit.